


A Break In Monotony

by lotusroot



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gender-Neutral Player, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 07:36:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7675714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lotusroot/pseuds/lotusroot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A new resident of the valley is something that Shane couldn’t care less about. Shane has a schedule, and is not willing to change it for anyone, much less a brat living the easy life, inheriting both a job and copious amounts of land. However the farmer has their ways, and soon becomes a constant in Shane’s mind, though his thoughts relating to them involves an unhealthy amount of swears.</p><p> </p><p>(basically an enemies to lovers story because i’m a sucker for gradual romance and shane.<br/>the player is mainly referred to as ‘farmer’, though their name may be used in the future)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Break In Monotony

Shane was used to routine. Even when he first moved to the valley, he soon slipped into the monotonous routine that was to wake, work, drink and sleep. He had followed this routine for the years he had lived here, and grew numb to the pattern that he followed still to this day.

The farmer had been the one to break his schedule which he had maintained to perfection. Their move into the valley had been a surprise and caused a lot of commotion within the valley. Their town was small, so word spread quickly of the new neighbour.

It had been a few weeks since they had moved into the old farm that had been empty for as long as Shane could remember. From what Marnie had told him, its previous owner had owned and maintained the farm, producing produce for the valley, and happened to be the passed on grandfather of his new neighbour.

That would explain their ownership of the huge farm that looked bigger than the town itself, though Shane could not, nor could he care to find the reason for their move to the quiet valley which he had once loved. 

He had no issues with the valley itself, but more so with a certain person who lived it. A certain person who had in some way or the other affected the town with their mere presence. It annoyed the living hell out of him.

They had apparently taken a liking to him, making sure to greet him in the mornings, and sometimes even visited him at work, though he would always pull his cap down, in hopes of simply disappearing entirely, and paying extra attention to the repetitive cold shelves that he had become so acquainted with.

\--

Shane was tired. As usual. He had woken up extra early to walk a different way to work, a longer route that wasted time but would save him from the chipper greeting from the farmer. He walked along the lake, moving at a fast pace. The water was clear and glimmered in the morning sun, though Shane could not appreciated the beauty of nature when his head spun and his eyelids weighed about 2 tons. He approached the bridge to his demise, and though he was advancing towards 8 hours of relentless pain, he could at least appreciate that the lack of a certain farmer would eliminate one of the many annoyances in his mornings.

He strode towards the glassy doors, his scowl relaxing somewhat as he was ready for at least 8 hours of peace.

That was, until he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned to face them, at a speed which could outpace a snail, in a hope of slowing the inevitable. It came as no surprise to him when the new topic of conversation stood behind him, smile ever-present on their face, one hand behind their back. 

“Morning, Shane! Going to work, eh?”

Shane could feel his headache return tenfold, considering to simply ignore the farmer and go to work.

“Yeah. What do you want?”

“Just wanted to say hi. Also, I’ve been growing peppers, and I thought you’d want some.”

The hand behind their back exposed a small box of peppers, and to Shane’s distaste, and to no surprise at all, the peppers looked perfect and delicious.

“Oh. Thanks.”

Somehow, it irritated him so much more that they seemed so unfazed by his obviously impolite and heartless thanks. Their smile grew, though since they hadn’t moved an inch, Shane could tell that they expected more out of him.

“I… I really like these. They look good.”

Though by then, his voice was gruff, and he spat out his words as if cursing the farming for giving him free food, which he couldn’t refuse, the farmer didn’t seem to mind as they turned on their heel, hollering a “You’re welcome!” as they walked off, probably to go steal the hearts of every other resident in the valley.

He resumed his walk to JojaMart, for once relieved to feel the cold, dry blast of the aircon as the glass doors swung open. Stuffing the box of peppers into the pockets of his scruffy jumper, he rushed to the staff room, now completely ready to don the outfit that, for once, gave him a sense of comfort.

\--

You could never understand why Shane hated you. Sure, he was a tough cookie with a thick outer shell, but he showed an obvious distaste towards you in particular. It didn’t help that he never referred to you by name, either. Every other resident had memorised your name within the first few days since moving, which during this time, you had quickly realised that the residents of Stardew Valley were all lovely, greeting you in the mornings, inviting and including you in every event they held, big or small, and some had even gone to you for special requests, which, though increased your workload, made you feel welcome, them having enough trust in you to ask for help from someone they had known for a couple days.

Some just called you ‘farmer’, but you didn’t mind it. Shane never referred to you directly, instead brushing you off with a rather forceful request for you to leave.

Some digging, and help from Marnie, helped you uncover a favourite item of Shane’s. You would never tell him, but you bought the seeds just for him. You had hoped to win him over through gifts, so after days worth of work you had finally grown high quality hot peppers for him. However your efforts seemed to go to waste as you recounted back to his half-hearted thanks.

You walked back towards the farm, you still had crops to water after all. After harvesting the peppers, you had rushed to catch Shane on his way to work, but he had not followed his usual route and extra time was wasted trying to track him down.

You sighed, walking back into a familiar area, making a beeline towards the watering can, picking it up to resume your morning duties. Spraying even amounts of water over your crops, your mind wandered back to Shane. Every resident of the valley had been welcoming, even Sebastian, the moody alternative boy had granted you access into his room within a week. Everyone had been so helpful, giving you a hand in farming, and offering advice from each of their individual fields of expertise. However Shane had been different, cold from the start and always opposed to any form of kindness.

Feeling a gradual coldness on your toes, you pushed back your thoughts, looking down. You felt an instant pang of regret for the poor crop which was now drooping due to the weight of constant water, the fertile soil beneath it nothing but a murky puddle whose stream lead to your boots. The brown leather was stained a dark brown near the toes, though the spread of the dark colour stopped as you placed the watering can behind you. You inhaled deeply, heading inside to change your shoes. The pair of brown boots were placed on the porch, hoping to soak in the sun at its highest. You would give it a few hours.

**Author's Note:**

> waiting on shanes marriage route so im distracting myself by writing sappy romance. i love this grump
> 
>    
> please tell me if there are any grammatical errors!  
> hopefully the POV switches weren't too confusing, if so, let me know :^)  
> thank you for reading!!


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